But the underlying tensions in the relationship never went away and last week's chemical attack infuriated Trump.
Tillerson will soon hold a press conference with Lavrov, where it is highly likely that the contents of the Putin meeting shall be discussed.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson landed in Russia Tuesday for a series of talks with the Kremlin on how to negotiate a close to the conflict.
Lavrov and Tillerson's talks are expected to focus on Syria and allegations that Russian Federation interfered in U.S. elections.
The military action, coupled with American officials' change of tone over Assad's future, stirred speculation that the U.S. and its Western allies were ready to place boots on the ground in Syria.
The U.S. also accused Russian Federation of mounting a disinformation campaign aimed at exonerating Assad from blame for the attack. He met with both Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin earlier Wednesday.
The meeting comes at a time of hightened tensions between the USA and Russian Federation following the attack on a Syrian airbase last week.
Russian Federation said the US strike was illegal though and Lavrov repeated Moscow's stance on Wednesday, saying an worldwide investigation should be left to determine who was to blame and what happened.
The U.S. administration has made contradictory claims regarding its Syria policy, with United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley saying Assad must step down, while defense secretary James Mattis and Tillerson have said the U.S. priority in Syria continues to be the fight against the so-called Islamic State.
"We're not going into Syria", President Trump told Maria Bartiromo from FOX Business. Their talks will "further clarify areas of sharp difference so that we can better understand why these differences exist and what prospects for narrowing those differences may be".
It was an icy start to the long-awaited meeting, that began with the two men entering a conference room making very little eye contact, CNN reported.
Gorsuch Confirmed By The Senate To the Supreme Court
And in many ways the showdown had been pre-ordained, the final chapter in years of partisan warfare over judicial nominees. There is no way to know how many there will be, if any, but several justices are quite elderly.
The talks got off to a frosty start, with the Russian politician branding the American cruise missile strike "illegal" and criticising "confusing and sometimes openly contradictory ideas" from the Trump administration on the US-Russia relationship and worldwide issues.
The White House has accused Moscow of trying to cover up Assad's use of chemical weapons after the attack on a town killed 87 people last week.
Claiming that the USA attack was "an act of humanity", Trump said he reflected a lot on the severity of the strike and came to the conclusion that "this would be the appropriate first shot".
Haley also said that the Security Council needs to do more to end the fighting in Syria if it wishes to retain credibility.
-Russian dispute concerned culpability for the chemical weapons, broader disagreements over everything from Ukraine to Russia's support for once-fringe candidates in European elections were among other sore points. Russian Federation has never publicly acknowledged any such attack by Assad's forces and has tried for the past 18 months to help him expand his authority in Syria.
But he also appeared to rule out deeper involvement, saying: "Are we going to get involved with Syria? No". Syria's government has denied responsibility for the attack, which prompted a US strike on a Syrian air base.Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said Syria had sent dozens of letters to the Security Council, some detailing "the smuggling of sarin from Libya through Turkey on a civilian air plane by using a Syrian citizen."Two litres of sarin were transported from Libya through Turkey to terrorist groups in Syria", he said, adding that the government does "not have these weapons".
But Russia made clear it had no intention to acquiesce. Our policy is the same - it hasn't changed.
Tillerson said he wanted "a very open, candid and frank exchange" with Lavrov.
Asked about accusations that Syria's government launched a chemical weapons attack in Idlib province, Mr Putin said that Damascus had given up its chemical weapons stocks.
He reiterated warnings that further chemical weapons use will be met with fresh U.S. action: "If they use chemical weapons, they are going to pay a very, very stiff price".
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